Hundreds of Nigerians gathered in London, United Kingdom on Monday, to stage a protest outside the Nigerian High Commission and the UK Home Office, urging authorities to sanction Mele Kyari’s deportation from the UK.
Kyari, the immediate past Group Chief Executive Officer of the Nigerian National Petroleum Company Limited (NNPCL) was accused of alleged corruption during his time at NNPCL.
The demonstrations, organized under the banner of Rescue Nigeria Now (RNN), accused Kyari of allegedly fleeing Nigeria to evade corruption investigations tied to his 2019–2025 tenure at NNPCL.
Carrying placards with bold messages like “Withdraw Mele Kyari’s residency now!” and “Mele Kyari, face EFCC now!”, protesters submitted formal petitions to both institutions seeking Kyari’s deportation.
They declared that the demands for Kyari’s deportation were due to the alleged misappropriation of billions of dollars meant for rehabilitating Nigeria’s refineries in Warri, Kaduna, and Port Harcourt, leaving them nonfunctional.
The group also criticized Kyari’s handling of the fuel subsidy regime, claiming it fueled artificial scarcity, soaring prices, and nationwide fuel queues, exacerbating economic hardship for Nigerians.
In a letter to the Nigerian High Commissioner, RNN expressed outrage over Kyari’s presence in the UK, calling it an “affront to Nigeria’s anti-corruption crusade.”
They demanded the High Commission withhold diplomatic recognition until Kyari returns to face the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC).
The letter reads in part: “We are profoundly disillusioned and appalled by the effrontery with which Mr Kyari has been walking in the street of London with impunity, while the tables of the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) and other anti-corruption agencies in Nigeria are flooded with so many petitions, audit queries, and evidence on the many alleged corrupt financial dealings and infraction that have been attached to his tenure which spanned from 2019 to 2025.
“We see this as an affront to the people of Nigeria and an insult to the esteemed anti-corruption crusade of the Federal Republic of Nigeria, that an individual of such notoriety whose tenure in NNPCL was marred by unprecedented corruption and international embarrassment should not be allowed to roam freely on British soil without facing the consequences of his actions.
“Your Excellency, this letter is not merely a petition—it is a demand— A moral, civic, and nationalistic demand. We, therefore, demand in the strongest terms that the Nigerian High Commission in the United Kingdom refrains from according to him any form of official reception, recognition, or diplomatic courtesy until he returns to Nigeria to submit himself to the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) and other relevant investigative bodies for the myriad allegations that trail his tenure.”
“It is on record to date that billions of dollars that were ostensibly budgeted for the rehabilitation of Nigeria’s decrepit refineries in Warri, Kaduna and Port Harcourt just unaccountably vanished into a bureaucratic abyss under the leadership of Mr Kyari.
“While the nation was waiting expectantly for positive results, it was unfortunate that no tangible infrastructural improvement or reasonable output has been recorded as a justification for the gargantuan expenditures being made. Instead, Nigeria, a country known as the largest oil producer in Africa, continued importing refined petroleum products while its refineries remained moribund, mothballed, and perfunctorily maintained, further weakening the Nigeria naira.
“At present, the forensic opacity that surrounded these rehabilitation contracts, which have collectively impoverished the nation and eroded public trust in governance, has been a point of convergence and sensitivity to several anti-corruption watchdogs and international observers who have described the NNPCL under Kyari as an Impenetrable black box.
“Moreover, it was alleged that Mele Kyari was running a syndicate of racketeers who were massively benefiting from the fuel importation operations at the detriment of the nation’s wealth.
“Under Kyari’s leadership, the controversial fuel subsidy regime was mysteriously shrouded in confusion, crony capitalism, and unexplainable contradictions. Opaque subsidy payments of over trillions of naira were disbursed under the pretext of cushioning fuel costs. Yet, these payments lacked empirical substantiation and transparency on how they were spent.
“In demanding accountability, figures contradicted themselves, audits were ignored, and most damningly of this theatrics is that ordinary Nigerians were the ones that continued to suffer from the effects of fluctuating pump prices, artificial scarcity being created from his recklessness, and the nationwide persistent fuel queues that hit the country— a phenomenon that outrightly became emblematic of governance failure.
“Subsidy removal, though a visionary idea by President Bola Ahmed Tinubu, however became an ideological tool of deceit, not policy relief under Kyari’s watch. The EFCC has reportedly received whistleblower testimonies and documents alleging fraudulent invoicing, overblown subsidy claims, and clandestine offshore payments.”
Pan-Atlantic Kompass reports that the demand for Kyari’s deportation from the UK comes after the EFCC recently launched a sweeping investigation into an alleged $2.9 billion refinery rehabilitation fraud.
It was gathered that the EFCC is investigating allegations of mismanagement of funds allocated for refinery rehabilitation.
Sources reveal that $1.56 billion was allocated to the Port Harcourt refinery, $740.67 million to the Kaduna refinery, and $656.96 million to the Warri refinery.
It was also gathered that the anti-graft agency had reportedly arrested and detained top officials of the NNPCL including former managing directors of the Port Harcourt, Warri, and Kaduna refineries.
